The idle musings of a former military man, former computer geek, medically retired pastor and now full-time writer. Contents guaranteed to offend the politically correct and anal-retentive from time to time. My approach to life is that it should be taken with a large helping of laughter, and sufficient firepower to keep it tamed!

Friday, October 21, 2016

Decade-old words of wisdom

Vox Day wrote a regular column for WND some years ago. Today, on his blog, he reprinted one of his articles from 2004. It struck me very powerfully, and I thought it would do the same to my readers. Here it is, in full.

Tibetan religious tradition has it that when the Dalai Lama dies, the Buddha of Compassion leaves his body and incarnates in the body of a young child. The monks immediately go out in search of this blessed child, and when they find him – as they inevitably do – he is tested by a group of high lamas and enthroned as the reincarnation of his successor.

Imagine, however, if the lamas refused to recognize that the Dalai Lama was, in fact, dead. Suppose that instead of going in search of the Buddha’s new carnal home, they hooked the corpse up to a life support machine and waited patiently for the Holy One to awake and rise up. It’s not hard to see that they would be doomed to disappointment, and furthermore, would fail to find the next Dalai Lama as well.

This is precisely our dilemma today, for America, as envisioned by the Founding Fathers, is dead. By every measure, large and small, the original vision of limited government by, for and of the people has been folded, spindled and mutilated beyond recognition. When one reads the Constitution, one simply marvels at the distinct difference between its words and our present reality.

Our paper Federal Reserve Notes are not Congress-issued gold and silver coins. Our direct taxes are not apportioned. We are entangled in a veritable web of foreign alliances, Congress shamelessly makes laws regarding speech, religion and guns, and the judicial branch has arrogantly assumed for itself unchecked supremacy over the other two branches.

Regardless of whether one see these changes as blasphemous treason against the Constitution, or as reasonable and necessary modifications to what was designed to be a living document that evolves with the times, it is impossible to deny that they have been made. It is likewise impossible to assert that a massive central government possessing eminent domain, owning over a third of the land and claiming more than a third of all income is either limited or small.

For many years, conservatives and other freedom lovers have placed their trust in the Republican Party, hoping that it would fulfill its promises to return America to its national birthright of freedom and individual liberty. Those promises, unsurprisingly, were broken by the party of Abraham Lincoln, who is most famous for converting what had been a voluntary Union of free association into a forced Union by military might.

Any last vestiges of hope in the Republican Party have been shattered by the current regime, wherein a Republican President, Republican House, Republican Senate and Republican-nominated Supreme Court have demonstrated that they have zero interest in the timeless vision of America’s founders. Supporting them in the hopes that they will revive American liberties is akin to hoping that shock paddles will suffice to revive a month-old corpse. American freedom is not only dead, it has been rotting for some time.

There are those who say that a vote for a third-party candidate, such as the Libertarian’s Michael Badnarik or the Constitution Party’s Michael Peroutka, is wasted. Nothing could be further from the truth. Indeed, these are the only votes that are not wasted, for positive change will only come from those outside the corrupt bi-factional system. After all, it was neither the Tories nor the Whigs who fought for American independence.

Like the Tibetan lamas, we must go in search of those in whom the spirit of freedom and liberty burns. The revival of American liberty is still in its infancy, as only 482,451 people voted for the Libertarian and Constitution presidential candidates combined, 0.96 percent of those who voted for the victorious Republican, George W. Bush. But that is 482,395 more people than the 56 signers of the Declaration of Independence, and as for those who believe our present bipartisan system is eternal, well, tell it to the Whigs.

Or, for that matter, to the optimates and populares of Rome. The choice is simple, if not easy. A revival of liberty or the continued stink of an extinct republic as it decomposes into dictatorial empire.

America is dead. Let us go, then, and find her.

Being an immigrant to this country, I perhaps see this more clearly than some who've lived here all their lives, because I came to it 'fresh'. When I became a chaplain for an agency of the federal government, I took the oath of law enforcement office administered to all federal law enforcement officers.

I ... do solemnly swear ... that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; that I take this obligation freely, without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion; and that I will well and faithfully discharge the duties of the office on which I am about to enter. So help me God.

I took that oath in the full understanding of what it meant, and I was determined to keep it. I have done so, both in my active service and in my retirement. Yet:

FBI Director Comey could take the same oath and blatantly ignore and/or violate it in his handling of Hillary Clinton's testimony and his recommendations to the Attorney-General.

In cases such as Ruby Ridge, Waco and others, federal law enforcement agencies and officers can blatantly ignore and/or violate their oaths in taking unconstitutional action against those they deem to be malefactors. Subsequently, their actions are often retroactively approved, or excused, or covered up, while investigations are misled and legal action against the individuals responsible for such acts is often blocked.

I'm forced to ask whether federal, state and local law enforcement agencies and officers would do likewise if it came to imposing and enforcing blatantly unconstitutional legislation such as gun confiscation. I fear many officers would put their own interests first (their salaries and pensions, and the needs of their families), and do so. I don't know how many would actually honor their oath of office and refuse to do so, even in the face of losing their jobs and resultant personal hardship.

I saw that in South Africa, too. Many black policemen, themselves victims of discrimination under apartheid, helped to enforce the racist laws of that policy against their own people. As a result, they and their families were targeted by terrorists. Many were killed or maimed for life as a result . . . but because they had no other means of support, and because without the protection of their police uniforms they'd have been attacked by their own communities, they kept right on enforcing racist laws and discriminating against their own people. When democracy finally came to South Africa in 1994, the results for many of them were . . . not good.

I hope and pray Vox Day is wrong. I fear greatly that he's right. The United States of America, as envisioned by its founding fathers and as believed in by many of us (including myself), may indeed now be irretrievably lost to us. If Hillary Clinton wins this election, I think that will serve as confirmation of that fact.

If it is lost, what do we do? There's no point in trying to reform or renovate the present laws and institutions of government. They're so deeply, irredeemably flawed, from a constitutional point of view, that I think that'll be flat-out impossible. It may, indeed, be time to look for a new America, one that embodies the true aspirations of the old - and this time, take rather better care to ensure that those aspirations don't die of neglect.

Sadly, doing so will inevitably mean open conflict with those who hold our founding fathers and their aspirations in contempt. Let's hope and pray it doesn't come to that. I've seen and experienced three civil wars in three different countries. There are seldom, if ever, any real winners among the ordinary people like you and I . . . just overwhelming suffering.

10 comments:

Anonymous
said...

I would hope that there can be some sort of peaceful separation. It's become painfully obvious that the various elements currently living in this country cannot live peaceably amongst each other. The values, desires, aspirations and basic life ways are not only very different than one another, they're absolutely and totally incompatible. We will either separate peacefully or the world will see a civil war and accompanying genocide the likes of which have never been seen. I don't want my children to have to see and experience such a thing. I don't want them to have to live with this disgusting mess this country has become either. We'd seriously consider leaving but there's nowhere left to run. This land, the land I stand on, is literally fought for and bled for and died for land. We built it from nothing. The bones of my forefathers are buried here. We've been on this place for 180+ years. My family has been in America itself since the 1650s. It's not easy to leave and abandon a legacy like that to savages, degenerate freaks and globalist vampires.

Peter, is it your contention that our loss of liberties and freedoms can be rectified through a polite request, or by running away?

"It may, indeed, be time to look for a new America,"

"...open conflict with those who hold our founding fathers and their aspirations in contempt. Let's hope and pray it doesn't come to that."

I understand your aversion to such degree of conflict; having directly experienced it certainly places you in a more knowledgeable position than the multitude of chairborne commandos cheerfully advocating kinetics. I suggest, however, that "...a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism...", to borrow a phrase, may provide sufficient justification to move beyond conferences, petitions and pleadings.

I doubt we've reached that point, but if one observes from a high enough hill it may be possible to detect its existence.

@Inconsiderate: No, that's not my contention. This is still America. We just need to get rid of the layers of detritus that have covered her, and restore her to what our founding fathers intended her to be. I hope and pray conflict can be avoided in the process, but that isn't always possible - and if one won't take a stand for something this important, that doesn't say anything good about one's character, IMHO.

Alas, South Africa has never recovered from black majority rule and never will. A woman at my Church is South African and her kids got out. She wanted them to come to the US, but the current maladminstration makes it nearly impossible for whites to immigrate, so they went to Australia. The stories she tells would curl your hair.

I, too, hope conflict can be avoided. Still, there are some things I believe are true. For instance, I believe some small and limited government is necessary. I also view it as a necessary evil. It is inherent in the nature of government to always seek to increase its power and control, usually at the expense of liberty, regardless of the design and nature of that government. It is silly to suggest any government will voluntarily choose to reduce or restrict its power once it has gained it. Likewise, it is silly to suggest a government will voluntarily allow its power to be reduced to prior limits, even if those limits are spelled out in the document(s) which organized that government and to which that government and/or its agents swear some sort of loyalty. It is questionable as to whether the process by which a government might be reformed can be truly effective if government maintains de facto control over that process.

At this particular point in time, I disagree with the quoted author - a vote for a third party presidential candidate is, essentially, a wasted vote. Until at least 10% of the congressmen a from a single third party, there is just no hope of electing a president from one of them. The place where your vote counts the most is closest to home. Your congressmen (and women) almost always come from your city councils and county supervisors. It's a long slow process, and too many people don't have the patience to take the long view. The Leftists have had that patience for over 100 years, and it's paid off.

The problem now is, we probably no longer have the time to be patient. Fixing this may not be possible without the Tree of Liberty being watered with blood.

Only a fool actively hopes for a civil war. Unfortunately, Vox seems to be agitating for it. It's one of the reasons I don't go to his blog any more.

That being said, though, Vox Day is not wrong. The damage done is probably irreparable, short of truly heroic measures that I do not foresee occurring. The best case scenario, in my opinion, is a fairly bloodless Balkanization that breaks up the U.S.

The worst case scenario includes reenactments of the siege of Sarajevo, across the U.S., with all the disruption and death it might entail.

Stock up on supplies, folks. And remember that even if someone is an ass, they may still be right.

Vox is wrong about the Russia vs Ukraine match up, so it's entirely possible he could be wrong about the US. I can see the breakup not being bloodless. Blacks, as just one example, won't like it when the parasites aren't getting those Fed Checks anymore, and I can see them trying to terrorize the locals in an attempt to keep the money flowing. I think they are in for a very ruse shock, however.

The US, however, is a house permanently divided against itself, thanks to Lincoln who set it up to become that way.

The United States has never had the slightest modicum of that great "melting pot" so often extolled in collective popular cultural folklore.There's always been that element of the "civilian cold war" dilemma, not only among the races, religions and those of different ancestries, but also among the different social classes, between the "normal" and the outcasts and rebellious/defiant, between the academics and uneducated (and undereducated), between different lifestyles, and so on ...

Vox doesn't actually live here, so the Second American Civil War isn't likely to inconvenience him. Us, on the other hand...

And yes, voting for a third-party candidate is indeed wasting your vote. The major parties simply don't care. The Democrats didn't care about the Greens after the 2000 fiasco, they don't care about the BernieBots now. The Republicans don't care one whit about the Constitution Party. Neither party is going to change its positions for groups that can't even win a single electoral vote.

As far as the Libertarian Party, if you want to vote for Christian-hating gun control fanatics just vote Democrat. At least you'll have less to be embarrassed about.

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